Lizzy Lowe

Current Research

The effect of urbanization on the diversity, abundance and condition of spiders

The continual expansion of urban areas is drastically altering ecological processes and interactions, making it critical to understand how urbanisation impacts native fauna. Spiders are widespread predators that utilise many different habitats and foraging strategies, making them ideal to study the effect of urbanisation on closely related groups with different niche requirements. I am studying the influence of urbanisation on the diversity and abundance of spider functional groups and investigating the effect of novel habitats on spider behaviour, condition and development. This research will provide insight into the adaption of spiders to novel ecosystems and the underlying mechanisms which drive arthropod diversity in urban landscapes.